OBJECTIVE To examine short-term (i.e., postintervention) outcomes from a randomized controlled trial comparing a school-based telehealth-delivered depression prevention program, Interpersonal Psychotherapy-Adolescent Skills Training (IPT-AST), to services as usual (SAU). We expected IPT-AST would be acceptable and feasible and that IPT-AST adolescents would experience greater reductions in depression

OBJECTIVE Appearance concerns are a core feature of multiple psychiatric disorders (i.e., body dysmorphic disorder, eating disorders, and social anxiety disorders). Individuals with these concerns commonly engage in appearance-related safety behaviors (ARSB), behaviors intended to avoid, prevent, or manage the negative evaluation of one's physical appearance. The present study evaluated a brief ARSB

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of two internet-delivered psychological treatments for hypoactive sexual desire dysfunction (HSDD) in women: internet-based cognitive behavioral sex therapy (iCBST) and internet-based mindfulness-based sex therapy (iMBST). METHOD Women with HSDD were randomly assigned to one of three groups: iCBST, iMBST, or a waitlist control group. The interventions

OBJECTIVE This study tested a highly individualized cognitive-behavioral coping skills treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Recent studies have indicated that coping skills training programs are not always effective. A possible explanation is that the training provided in these programs may not address the specific needs of the patient. The Individualized Assessment and Treatment Program (IATP)

OBJECTIVE Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of interventions to reduce organizational skills deficits and homework problems, including the clinic-based Organizational Skills Training (OST-C) program (Abikoff et al., 2013). In this study, OST-C was adapted for schools as a small-group (Tier 2) intervention delivered by school partners (OST-T2). METHOD The study was conducted in 22 schools

OBJECTIVE In spite of the evidence that both symptom reduction and functional improvement are important for supporting recovery from trauma, psychotherapy process research has largely focused on mechanisms of symptom reduction. A better understanding of how change occurs in treatments that emphasize functional improvement rather than trauma processing is critical for optimizing effective, patient-centered

Measurement-based care, that is, incorporating data-informed decision support for therapists into psychological therapy, has undergone significant advancements over the past 2 decades. Technological innovations such as computerized data assessment and feedback tools have facilitated its widespread adoption across various settings. For instance, clinicians can utilize psychometric data to personalize

OBJECTIVE Loneliness is a global health issue, but current loneliness interventions are not scalable enough to reach many who might benefit from them. Brief online interventions could greatly expand access to evidence-based loneliness interventions. METHOD We conducted a preregistered three-armed trial (N = 908, ages 16-78) to compare three self-guided online interventions: a single-session intervention

OBJECTIVE We examined whether the emotions that clients experience within session are associated with treatment outcome in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) for borderline personality disorder (BPD). METHOD Participants were 52 adults who met criteria for BPD and were enrolled in a 12-month DBT treatment. The Classification of Affective-Meaning States, an observer-rated measure of discrete emotions

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to disaggregate the between-patient and within-patient effects of emotion regulation (ER) on treatment outcome and explore relevant trait-like moderators of the within-patient effects. METHOD Three hundred thirty-nine patients with heterogenous clinical conditions were admitted to psychotherapy at a clinical center. During the intake evaluation, patients completed

OBJECTIVE Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with elevated negative affect (NA; e.g., Badour et al., 2017) and diminished positive affect (PA; Nawijn et al., 2015). PTSD treatments reduce NA (e.g., Jerud et al., 2014), but changes in PA and relationships between changes in affect and PTSD symptoms remain unclear. METHOD This study examined changes in PA and NA in adults (N = 130) with

OBJECTIVE Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a viable alternative to maintenance antidepressant medication (M-ADM) to reduce risk of relapse/recurrence (RR) in recurrent depression, but its mechanism of action is not yet fully articulated. This secondary analysis of the PREVENT trial examined if MBCT with support to taper medication (MBCT-TS) reduces risk of RR in part by enhancing positive

OBJECTIVE Negative affect and affect variability figure prominently in models of addictive behaviors but are not without controversy. Negative affect variability may better capture a mechanism of behavior change in alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatment because it contains information about affect regulation, a common clinical target. The aims of this study are to examine the change in: (a) trajectory

In recent years, there has been growing empirical interest in examining the role of affect dynamics in mental health. However, research on affect has largely progressed independently in the basic and applied sciences, yielding significant advances in each domain but little cross-disciplinary integration. This special issue addresses this gap by showcasing some of the most promising recent developments

OBJECTIVE Meditation apps are the most widely used mental health apps. The precise mechanisms underlying their effects remain unclear. In particular, the degree to which affect experienced during meditation is associated with outcomes has not been established. METHOD We used the meditation app arm of a recently completed randomized controlled trial comparing a self-guided meditation app (Healthy Minds

OBJECTIVE To date, many prediction studies in psychotherapy research have used cross-sectional data to predict treatment outcome. The present study used intensive longitudinal assessments and continuous time dynamic modeling (CTDM) to investigate the temporal dynamics of affective states and emotion regulation in the early phase of therapy and their ability to predict treatment outcome. METHOD Ninety-one

Objective: Interpersonal and emotional functioning are closely linked and reciprocally influence one another. Contemporary integrative interpersonal theory (CIIT) offers a useful framework to conceptualize these patterns and guide interventions in cases where these patterns result in dysfunction. Stress processes offer several dynamic frameworks to guide empirical investigations using methods that

OBJECTIVE To examine the safety and efficacy of a brief cognitive dual-task (using eye movements) add-on module to treatment as usual (TAU) in reducing the severity and frequency of intrusive suicidal mental images and suicidal ideation. METHOD We conducted a single-blind, parallel multicenter randomized trial (No. NTR7563) among adult psychiatric outpatients (N = 91; Mage = 34.4, SD = 13.54; 68% female)

OBJECTIVES Working alliance is considered an important determinant of outcome of psychotherapy. Patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following childhood abuse (CA-PTSD) may have challenges in building interpersonal relationships, including working alliance. Phase-based treatment provides an opportunity to strengthen alliance prior to trauma-focused treatment. This study aimed to compare

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate a sequence of associations between clients' pretreatment attachment style, the development of individuated-secure attachment to the therapist (i.e., therapeutic attachment), and the experience of increased comfort with emotional closeness (growing engagement) or independence (growing autonomy) in therapy. Moreover, the study explored whether clients'

Current health care systems emphasize consensual collaboration between clinicians and patients to reduce symptoms and improve well-being (e.g., World Health Organization, 2023). The alliance is the internationally best-studied collaborative process characteristic in psychotherapy research. Recent empirical studies on the alliance have tripled in comparison to the entire 20th century. This increase

OBJECTIVE Motivational Interviewing (MI) is described as a method for improving clinical outcomes by reducing client ambivalence. If this is true, MI's focus on improving clients' motivational language should be most useful for clients with ambivalence about change and less valuable for those who are ready to implement new behaviors or are opposed to change. To address this hypothesis and potentially

OBJECTIVE Web-based cognitive bias modification for interpretation (CBM-I) can improve interpretation biases and anxiety symptoms but faces high rates of dropout. This study tested the effectiveness of web-based CBM-I relative to an active psychoeducation condition and the addition of low-intensity telecoaching for a subset of CBM-I participants. METHOD 1,234 anxious community adults (Mage = 35.09

Treatment personalization has evolved into an important zeitgeist in psychotherapy research. To date, such efforts have principally embodied a unidirectional focus on personalizing interventions to the patient. For example, earlier work in this area attempted to determine whether, on average, certain patients with certain characteristics or needs would respond better to one treatment package versus

OBJECTIVE This study examined variability in response to a couple and relationship education program for Black coparenting couples using group-based trajectory modeling. We identified groups of couples with different relationship satisfaction trajectories across a 2-year period following preintervention assessment. METHOD Black couples with a preadolescent child were randomized to the Protecting Strong

OBJECTIVE Despite the importance for understanding mechanisms of change, little is known about the order of change in daily life emotions, cognitions, and behaviors during treatment of depression. This study examined the within-person temporal order of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral improvements using ecological momentary assessment data. METHOD Thirty-two individuals with diagnosed depression

OBJECTIVE We tested if baseline disruptive child behavior problem severity predicts parental attendance at sessions of a parenting group program. METHOD We used a database of randomized trials of the Incredible Years parenting program in Europe and restricted the sample to participants randomized to the intervention arm. Using baseline Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory scores, we distinguished between

OBJECTIVE Depressive symptom dynamics, including change trajectories and symptom variability, have been related to therapy outcomes. However, such dynamics have often been examined separately and related to outcomes of interest using two-step analyses, which are characterized by several limitations. Here, we show how to overcome these limitations using location-scale models in a dynamic structural

Replies to comments made by Kenneth E. Freedland et al. (see record 2024-89430-002) on Rinad S. Beida, Lisa Saldana, and Rachel C. Shelton's original article (see record 2023-46817-001). In reading Freedland et al.'s (2024) commentary, it appears that their lens prioritizes internal validity and more explanatory and mechanistic work. While we also value these scientific goals and concur that the approaches

In their recent Viewpoint article, Beidas et al. (2023) argue that researchers should test psychosocial interventions in the contexts in which they are meant to be delivered and that they can accelerate the deployment of these interventions by advancing directly from pilot trials to effectiveness and implementation studies without conducting efficacy trials. In this commentary, we argue that this is

OBJECTIVE Evidence on the optimal "dose" of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for treating major depressive disorder is sparse. This analysis aimed to evaluate the dose-response curve in CBT using a nonlinear approach, whereby "dose" was defined as number of treatment sessions. The dose-response curve of CBT was compared to other psychotherapies and pharmacological treatments for depression. METHOD

OBJECTIVE To test potential cognitive and interpersonal moderators of two evidence-based youth depression prevention programs. METHOD Two hundred four adolescents (Mage = 14.62 years, SD = 1.65; 56% female; 71% White, 11% Black, 11% multiracial, 5% Asian, 2% other races, 18% Hispanic/Latinx) were randomized to either a cognitive-behavioral (Coping With Stress [CWS]) or interpersonal (Interpersonal

OBJECTIVE Despite effective treatment options, many families-especially those from marginalized backgrounds-lack access to quality care for their children's behavioral difficulties. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth has become a prominent format for the delivery of outpatient services, with potential to increase access to quality care. Although telehealth-delivered parenting interventions are

BACKGROUND Studies suggest that cognitive behavioral therapies (CBTs) may be efficacious in reducing symptoms of prolonged grief disorder (PGD), but no comprehensive overview and pooled estimate of CBTs' effect on PGD in adulthood exist. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. METHOD Studies were selected independently by two researchers based on a systematic

OBJECTIVE We sought to address a growing debate regarding the adverse and salutary impact of unusual, extraordinary or intense subjective experiences during meditation-based interventions. To do so, we empirically characterized such peak experiences during an intensive meditation intervention and their impact postintervention. METHOD We conducted a preregistered prospective intervention study among

Prior to the advent of multiculturalism, mainstream psychology mirrored the Euro-American culture. In contrast, multiculturalism acts as a prism that reveals the diversity in the human condition. Since most empirical research is still conducted on Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic populations, we need to construct a representative map of the human psychological and behavioral

OBJECTIVE To compare the course of change in individual posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms during prolonged exposure therapy (PE) and cognitive processing therapy (CPT). METHOD We analyzed data from a previously published randomized clinical trial comparing PE and CPT among male and female U.S. military veterans with PTSD (Schnurr et al., 2022). Using data from a self-rated PTSD symptom

OBJECTIVE Recurrent depressive episodes are preceded by changing mean levels of repeatedly assessed emotions (e.g., feeling restless), which can be detected in real time using statistical process control (SPC). This study investigated whether monitoring changes in the standard deviation (SD) of emotions and negative thinking improves the early detection of recurrent depression. METHOD Formerly depressed

OBJECTIVE Behavioral parent training (BPT) is the standard of care for early onset behavior disorders (BDs), however, not all families benefit. Emotion regulation (ER) is one potential mechanism underlying BPT outcomes, yet there are challenges in capturing intra- and interpersonal aspects of emotion regulation within parent-child interactions that are central to BPT. This study examined how vocally

OBJECTIVE This is a randomized controlled trial (NCT03056157) of an enhanced adaptive disclosure (AD) psychotherapy compared to present-centered therapy (PCT; each 12 sessions) in 174 veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to traumatic loss (TL) and moral injury (MI). AD employs different strategies for different trauma types. AD-Enhanced (AD-E) uses letter writing (e.g., to the

OBJECTIVE In a recent trial, moral reconation therapy (MRT)-a cognitive-behavioral intervention for criminal recidivism-was not more effective than usual care (UC) for veterans in behavioral health treatment. To determine for whom treatments of recidivism are most effective, we tested if recency of criminal history or psychopathic traits moderated MRT's effects on outcomes. METHOD In a multisite trial

OBJECTIVE Sleep and circadian disturbance is highly comorbid with a range of psychological disorders, especially major depressive disorder (MDD). In view of the complexity of sleep and circadian problems in MDD, this study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a group-based transdiagnostic intervention for sleep and circadian dysfunction (TranS-C) for improving depressive symptoms and sleep and circadian

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to provide evidence for treatment credibility (TC) as a potential mechanism of change in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Therefore, it focused on within-person effects that are free of the influence of stable characteristics and thus allow to exclude certain alternative explanations for the association under study. METHOD The sample included 1,423 patients receiving outpatient

OBJECTIVE This randomized trial tested the effectiveness of Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation (STAIR) compared to present-centered therapy (PCT) delivered virtually to women veterans who had experienced military sexual trauma (MST) and screened positive for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). METHOD One hundred sixty-one eligible women veterans were randomized into the study

OBJECTIVES In this study, the effectiveness of a couples-based group intervention to prevent intimate partner violence (IPV), Strength at Home Couples (SAH-C), was examined on a military installation relative to a comparison intervention, Supportive Prevention (SP). It was expected that greater reductions in use of physical, psychological, and sexual IPV behaviors, as well as reduced suicidality, would

OBJECTIVE Digital stress interventions could be helpful as an "indirect" treatment for depression, but it remains unclear for whom this is a viable option. In this study, we developed models predicting individualized benefits of a digital stress intervention on depressive symptoms at 6-month follow-up. METHOD Data of N = 1,525 patients with depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiological Studies' Depression

OBJECTIVE Positive and negative affect play critical roles in depression and anxiety treatment, but the dynamic processes of how affect changes over treatment in relation to changes in symptoms is unclear. The study goal was to examine relationships among changes in positive and negative affect with changes in depression and anxiety symptoms. METHOD This secondary analysis used a combined sample (N

OBJECTIVE Treatment guidelines on borderline personality disorder (BPD) recommend day-hospital or residential treatments for patients with BPD who cannot tolerate outpatient treatment (American Psychiatric Association, 2010; National Health & Medical Research Council, 2013). However, the current literature suggests that evidence-based treatment for BPD may be difficult to access (Lohman et al., 2017)

OBJECTIVE A recent randomized controlled trial (RCT) indicated that individuals with higher levels of attachment anxiety exhibited better treatment outcomes in supportive-expressive therapy (SET) relative to supportive therapy (ST). But to gain insight into within-patient therapeutic changes, a within-individual design is required. The present study contrasts previous findings based on theory-driven

OBJECTIVE We conducted a large (N = 204) randomized, clinical trial to test the efficacy of parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) on observed parenting, two key drivers of maladaptive parenting-self-regulation and social cognitions, and child behavior outcomes in a sample of child welfare-involved families. METHOD Participants were randomly assigned to standard PCIT (n = 120) or services-as-usual

OBJECTIVE Improvement in emotion regulation is a proposed transdiagnostic mechanism of change. However, treatment research is limited by disorder-specific investigations that assess a narrow number of emotion regulation strategies. Moreover, most assess pre-to-post-treatment change without examining short-term changes throughout psychotherapy that might influence treatment response. METHOD To address

For some time, the gold standard treatment for anxiety disorders has been exposure therapy, defined as the repeated approach of anxiety-inducing situations, memories, or physiological sensations. Existing treatments to target fear and avoidance of pain can be augmented by innovations from exposure research in the anxiety disorders, including greater emphasis on safety learning, the utilization of imaginal

OBJECTIVE Test whether a group-delivered dissonance-based transdiagnostic eating disorder treatment, Body Project Treatment (BPT), produces greater reductions in eating disorder symptoms and higher abstinence from eating disorder behaviors and remittance from eating disorder diagnoses than group-delivered transdiagnostic interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT). METHOD Women with a range of eating disorders

OBJECTIVE Untreated mental disorders are important among low- and middle-income country (LMIC) university students in Latin America, where barriers to treatment are high. Scalable interventions are needed. This study compared transdiagnostic self-guided and guided internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (i-CBT) with treatment as usual (TAU) for clinically significant anxiety and depression

OBJECTIVE During treatment, the therapeutic alliance is characterized by rupture and repair episodes, which in turn are associated with psychotherapy outcome. It would be important to have a parsimonious tool to identify ruptures in psychotherapy sessions to provide therapists with meaningful feedback about when they occur. The present study thus aims to establish whether measuring self-reported alliance

OBJECTIVE The objective of this research was to determine the efficacy and safety of an optimized informed consent (OIC) consultation for psychotherapy. METHOD We performed a randomized controlled superiority online trial involving 2 weeks of treatment and 3 months of follow-up. One hundred twenty-two adults with mental disorders confirmed by structured interview currently neither in out- nor inpatient

OBJECTIVE Difficulties with emotion regulation (ER) are a risk factor for the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Less is known about temporal relations between ER and PTSD symptom change during treatment, including whether ER may represent a more potent change ingredient for some patients relative to others. This study examined the association between within-patient

Psychological therapies are highly effective interventions for a range of mental health conditions and often preferred by many patients over medication. Unfortunately, most people who could benefit from these therapies do not receive them. This is true even in the United States, which enjoys relatively high numbers of mental health professionals. The lack of access is further compounded by structural

OBJECTIVE Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is the most common personality disorder, affecting 1.8% of the general population, 10% of psychiatric outpatients, and 15%-25% of psychiatric inpatients. Practice guidelines recommend psychotherapies as first-line treatments. However, psychotherapies commonly used for the treatment of BPD are numerous, and little is known about the comparative effectiveness

OBJECTIVE The present study examined potential treatment outcome predictors of a multicomponent cognitive behavioral intervention for intermittent explosive disorder (IED). METHOD The sample (n = 64; 22 female) consisted of individuals with a current diagnosis of IED that completed treatment across three study trials. Treatment outcome predictors assessed included demographic variables, psychiatric